Let’s talk about the recent residency MATCH and the impending primary care death spiral. Fewer and fewer med students are choosing primary care, leading us closer to a primary care death spiral. How do we pull out of a death spiral? Can we reach the students to teach them the hope of DPC? Will the questions never end?
Dr. Purcell is board certified family physician working in Anderson, SC. He received his medical degree from Mercer University in Macon, GA and completed family medicine residency at AnMed Health in Anderson, SC.
After completing his residency, Dr. Purcell worked in a private group practice for 3 years before opening his own cash-only primary care clinic in 2005. As he built his cash-only clinic, he was also working part-time in a local urgent care facility. In 2008, he purchased a dormant medical clinic on the “wrong side of the tracks” and opened an urgent care and primary care clinic. After gaining his freedom from third-party captives, Dr. Purcell and a colleague formed the first direct primary care clinic in Anderson County in 2015. In 2019, he transitioned to full-time direct primary care and sold his urgent care. The direct primary care model has brought about a restoration of a relationship with patients broken by third-party middlemen. Now, he can offer more access and more of his time to patients. Dr. Purcell firmly believes that the direct primary care model is the last hope for health care in America.
Dr. Purcell is an active member of several medical organizations including the DPC Alliance, Free Market Medical Association, and American Academy of Family Physicians. He is the former Chair of the Direct Primary Care Member Interest Group for the AAFP and a founding member of the DPC Alliance and the Carolina’s Free Market Medical Association. He was elected to the Advisory Committee for the DPC Alliance in the Fall of 2018 and completed his term in 2021.
Dr. Purcell is the author of Magic, Pixie Dust, and Miracles: A Guide to Direct Primary Care and Employers which shares how to connect DPC with employers of all sizes. He has spoken about this topic and DPC in general at the DPC Summit, DPC Nuts and Bolts conference, Hint Summit, AAFP FMX, Carolina’s Free Market Medical Association, TedexFurman, and DPC Alliance Mastermind sessions. He continues to speak to residents and student groups about DPC as well.
One thought on “The Primary Care Death Spiral”
No! It can’t be saved. Many FP’s are in under served areas with a lot of public aid. Try and do DPC there and one will go bankrupt PERIOD! Especially if there are competing practices that accept public aid. The group practice I retired from had to be supported by the local hospital to survive. DPC is a fallacy. Unless……. One can relocate to an economic area that will support it or join an established DPC practice. Med students don’t want to deal with this crap and will elect to specialize and have a better income. As far as I’m concerned, FP is going to die sooner than I thought it would. Shoot, I did office, hospital work and took call. It was a burden and I didn’t make half as much as a specialist doc while busting my butt. Due to the low cost of living where I was at my family was comfortable. No wonder students eschew the specialty. So glad I was able to retire at age 64. Got too tired, my lovely wife died prematurely and I have a mentally handicapped son I have guardianship of to care for. Better I’m home for him though I have to admit, he’s not so hard to care for. Has speech and I can leave him alone for a few hours so I can shop and run errands without him along.
No! It can’t be saved. Many FP’s are in under served areas with a lot of public aid. Try and do DPC there and one will go bankrupt PERIOD! Especially if there are competing practices that accept public aid. The group practice I retired from had to be supported by the local hospital to survive. DPC is a fallacy. Unless……. One can relocate to an economic area that will support it or join an established DPC practice. Med students don’t want to deal with this crap and will elect to specialize and have a better income. As far as I’m concerned, FP is going to die sooner than I thought it would. Shoot, I did office, hospital work and took call. It was a burden and I didn’t make half as much as a specialist doc while busting my butt. Due to the low cost of living where I was at my family was comfortable. No wonder students eschew the specialty. So glad I was able to retire at age 64. Got too tired, my lovely wife died prematurely and I have a mentally handicapped son I have guardianship of to care for. Better I’m home for him though I have to admit, he’s not so hard to care for. Has speech and I can leave him alone for a few hours so I can shop and run errands without him along.